


Celestial Aegis

by Jastra



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Broken translator implant, Dad Yondu, Doesn't admit it though, Gen, Innocent Peter, Protective Yondu, Scared Peter, Violence, Yondu looks after Peter, Young Peter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-01 14:19:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10923585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jastra/pseuds/Jastra
Summary: During a skirmish between Ravagers and rivaling pirate group, young Peter gets grabbed by the enemy leader. Yondu shows the pirates what happens when someone dares to hurt his boy.





	1. Skirmish

**Author's Note:**

> A short story with short chapters. I'm so in love with the new movie.  
> I know Kraglin should probably be much younger in this but I kinda forgot it till the chapter was done. Shame...shaaaaaame.

Peter tried to calm down and hold his breath to the best of his ability as he stared at a hideous space pirate through a metal crating.

He had been crawling through the enemy ship's ventilation system for an hour now, trying to find a way back to safety without any success. Yondu had been right, he really fit well inside small spaces, the only problem was getting out of them.

The whole situation felt simply absurd and unreal.

Most kids his age had to go to school and learn about math, biology or proper grammar, not crawl into ventilation system of an enemy ship to open locked doors.

For the past 12 months Peter had done his best to follow instructions on how to properly fix and maintain the equipment and gear, not to mention the hours upon hours he had spent scrubbing and cleaning the Ravager ship. Yet, no matter how hard he tried to do things right, Yondu always found something to complain about and made him redo everything. At least it was an effective way to learn.

Sure, reading the alien writing and counting were something the crew taught him to the best of their ability, but it left much to desire. Well to be completely honest, Yondu was surprisingly good at teaching but he rarely had the time. The centaurian man was really strict and oftentimes mocked Peter when in company of other members of the crew, threatening to eat him if he didn't grasp the idea behind something fast.

Most 9 year old kids worried about simple things like friendship issues or about some fight with a family member. Peter on the other hand was trying his best to survive in a group of space pirates, smugglers and mercenaries who followed a code but barely had any rules. Yondu had taken him the day his mother had died, keeping him just for his small size and hands that were put into real work now. Every day was uncertain and the sense of safety had disappeared from his life altogether.

Peter trembled as he stared at the nasty looking alien captain who was at odds with the Ravagers. While none of the members of Yondu's crew were particularly pleasant to look at, this ugly monster was entirely something else.

To Peter's understanding the Ravagers had attacked this vessel due to some “misunderstanding” between the groups but the enemy had expected an attack from them.

Yondu had not told him the gruesome details since he had not taken part in the raids or attacks until this day. The synopsis the blue man had given him was that the space pirate captain along with some of his crew had locked themselves up inside the cargo bay, with some of the ravagers as hostages and threatened to execute them if Yondu tried something.

The only way in was via a ventilation system that Peter was just the perfect size for.

He had done what the captain had asked, opening few bulkhead doors from the inside so that the ravagers could take over the ship and get their hands on the ship systems, but he had gotten lost in the ventilation system afterwards, unable to find his way back to safety.

Yondu had told him to hide after his job was done, but somehow Peter had found his way into the commanding room where a standoff was going on between the pirate and the ravagers.

Peter held both hands over his mouth to keep any sounds down, doing his all not to be noticed by the enemy who'd certainly kill him on the spot.

His mind kept going back to the conversation he had with Yondu earlier.

 

* * *

 

**1 hour earlier**

 

Peter leaned against the cold metal wall, listening to his Walkman with the volume turned to the max. No matter how much he wished it, the headphones and the music just couldn't block all the sounds of gunshots and death screams of various aliens out.  They had assaulted the huge enemy ship with the help of M-ships, landing inside the hangar to deal with the rival group and save their fellow Ravagers. Udonta had taken him as his co-pilot to show him a "real fight", but had left him into the hangar area to guard the ships with few other guards. 

Udonta's men had  shred through the enemy forces without any mercy, yet the human child knew that not all of them would make it back alive. Even though he had lost his mother, Peter still had hard time accepting death, even if it was someone he barely knew or liked.

“Hey boy,” Peter could hear a familiar rough and commanding voice address him, but he chose to ignore it, even if it was not wise. “Brat are you listening to me!?” Yondu growled and yanked the headphones off Peter's head to get the kid's attention. Of course the boy took it poorly, after all, no one had the right to touch the dearest memento he had of earth, of his mother.

“Hey give them back! You'll break them!” He yelled at the person who had grabbed them, only to realize that it had been Yondu.

The sight of the Ravager leader staring down at him with a raised brow was enough to shut up Peter up and he cast his eyes down a bit. Yondu was towering over him in very intimidating manner, holding the head phones in his blue hand.

“Please,” Peter added quietly and tried to avoid eye contact.

The centaurian man sighed and crouched down so that he was on Peter's level, tapping the kid's chest with the frame of the headphones a couple of times.

“Listen boy, I need you to do something that none of my crew is physically able to do,” Yondu started and scratched the back of his head, as if hesitating. A loud explosion was heard in the distance and the alien muttered curses Peter had never heard before. “Damn it.”

The terran boy lifted his gaze up to meet Yondu's. The captain had never asked him to do something else than hide and maybe shoot if the enemy found him.

“What?” he asked hesitantly and finally lift his gaze up to meet Yondu's. The man looked looked grim and serious.

“Listen, some of the doors are locked from the other side and the vents are the only way inside. I need you to open some doors for my boys so that they can get to the controls and access the ship's systems. ” the blue skinned alien explained to the kid whose expression turned terrified.

“I..I don't really know, what if they catch me? I don't want to die,” Peter whispered and Yondu noticed how the child's hold on the Walkman tightened.

“They won't. You are so small that they probably won't even see you,” the Ravager captain said reassuringly and placed his large hand on to Peter's shoulder. “I wouldn't ask this if there was another way, boy. The lives of my men depend on you. Once you've done that, just hide in the vents and get back to the access point. You'll be out of our way there.”

The mere thought of what he'd have to do made the boy tremble a bit and feel agitated. He didn't want to put himself into danger, but he didn't want any of the Ravagers to die either.

Some of the crew members were ok, the ones who didn't constantly mock him or smack him onto head for not understanding something. Taserface was probably the worst one and Peter sometimes found himself wishing that he'd just...not return from some raid.

Few of the aliens actually chose to help and teach Peter voluntarily, even if they also teased and ridiculed him a bit while doing so. To be honest, Peter didn't mind it since he could sense that it was in good will and actually felt very grateful towards the crew members who took the extra time to teach him.

Kraiglin was actually one of his favorites since the young man liked to show him all kinds of cool stuff he had gathered over the few years he had been with the Ravagers. Though he was still young, Kraglin had visited various systems and had great stories to tell.

 

But still, going into ventilation system and sneaking inside the enemy ship felt so scary and dangerous to a 9 year old kid..

“If...if I don't do this, will you eat me?” Peter found himself asking.

Yondu's expression went blank and he seemed to ponder something for a moment, as if whether he should make a joke or not, but this went unnoticed by Peter.

Finally, a grin formed on Yondu's face.

“Yes, yes I will.”

It was all the convincing Peter needed.

 

* * *

 

 

 _Ok Quill, calm down, you can do this_ , Peter thought and tried to calm down. _You are a Star-Lord after all, you can make it out of this alive and one day you'll return to earth._

The two smuggler captains were snapping insults at each other, but neither of them dared to act just yet. The crew looked impatient and the two captains were just shooting insults at each others. The pirate had some of Yondu's men as hostages, and Udonta's men had their guns aimed at the enemy crew.

 _If I move, every pirate in the room will hear me_ , the terran boy thought in despair. The enemy would certainly open fire instantly. The situation was tense enough to cut with a knife and he was directly above the hostile mercenary captain.

They'd probably jump to the conclusion of him being an assassin or part of some surprise attack and not ask any questions.

“Back off Udonta! The treasure is mine! You better just turn around and march out of my ship with your crew, else your buddies here get a bullet into their heads,” the ugly alien growled at Yondu who was standing in front of his crew, the yaka arrow hovering next to his head. “You all are gonna end up floating in space.

“Well I can't do that, now can I?” the blue skinned captain asked with a grin on his face that told the opposing crew that they were all going to die...painfully.

“First you steal my loot and then you take my boys as hostages. Now, I don't know about the standards or code your trash group has, but I'm pretty sure that mine obligates me to kill all of you.”

 _Maybe I can get out now? With them talking I could just sneak off_ , Peter pondered and was ready to make a run for it, but just when he was about to move, the metal crating beneath him creaked loudly and moved.

Everyone in the room froze and tensed up when they heard the creaking sound above them.

Peter's heart raced and his eyes were widened in terror, but before he could say anything or move again, the flimsy crating gave away beneath him.

The young boy let out a terrified yelp when he fell down into the room where the standoff was going on, somehow managing to land onto the ugly pirate captain's head and knock the weapon out of his hand before finally hitting the cold floor painfully.

The impact knocked the wind out of Peter and left him whimpering and gasping for air.

“Oww...” the terran boy let out and held his head slightly. He was definitely going to get a bruise, but alas, it was the least of his worries now.

Peter saw Yondu staring at him, the expression on his face baffled before turning worried. 

 _Yondu?_ Peter thought as the fear started to overwhelm him. He was between the two groups and every single person had a gun.

 

Everyone in the room went quiet and just stared at the kid who had fallen from the ceiling and managed to take the hostile alien down with him. Peter turned his head to look at the man he had knocked down and in an instant he lost all color on his face.

The ugly monster of a man was staring daggers at him, his pitch black eyes filled with murderous intent. He looked as if he wanted to rip Peter apart limb by limb.

“Boy...” Udonta said quietly, only to start cursing in various alien languages underneath his breath.

 

Peter tried to escape but the enemy leader was faster, grabbing a handful of his hair and yanking the boy back in very painful manner.

Looked like they had just gained another hostage.

 


	2. Yaka Arrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2. I'm so sorry Peter.

Yondu cursed underneath his breath as he stared at Peter who had landed on the enemy captain.

He recalled all the vilest curses he had learned over the years as a captain of a group of Ravagers, which meant that the list was a long one. Kraglin, who apparently had not heard the full vulgar vocabulary his captain possessed, started to make a mental list of the good ones he'd have to save for later use.

Somehow Quill always ended up getting into trouble no matter where he went. It didn't matter if it was the ravager crew, some city or an alien planet, he always ended up getting the dimwitted and naive boy out of danger. It was as if the terran had a death wish or something.

Some of the men had reported that Peter had gone back into the vents after opening the last door, but for some reason or another, the kid had never made it back to the ravager ships in the hangar. As much as he had wanted to send men to find the boy, as a captain he couldn't do that. He had to look after the whole crew and showing favoritism during moments like this would be his end.

Yondu had planned on finding Quill after this had been resolved, but apparently it was no longer needed since Peter had decided to present himself in such a grand and refined manner...

It was actually quite a relief to see the human alive and well, but if he didn't do something fast, it might not stay that way for long.

 _How hard is it to understand two simple orders, boy? Hide and stay out of trouble,_ Yondu though as he stared at Peter who looked just as confused as the rest of them.

This was why some of the crew kept telling him to just deliver Peter to his father and still saw him as nothing more than cargo.

At least once per month the centaurian had to argue and convince the crew that Peter was worth keeping around, that he'd turn into a proper ravager given time.

So far the terran had served as a good spy, pickpocket and a messenger thanks to his small size and innocent looks, but he was useless in combat. By going into the vents and opening the doors Quill had actually shown the crew that he could do something useful.

Actually, one could consider this to be a surprise attack that had just not been very effective.

 

He was fond of the boy, but showing weakness in front of the crew would quickly turn against him. If he lost control of the Ravagers, they'd deliver Peter to ego and the boy would certainly meet the same fate as his siblings. And...he didn't want to see Peter die, not in the hands of his father, the ravagers or this ugly alien.

 

Speaking of the ugly pirate, Yondu saw red when the rival captain grabbed a handful of Peter's soft hair and forced him up onto his feet.

“Let go of me you hideous creep!” Quill protested and fought like a wild animal to get out of the tall alien's painful hold, but the struggling only served to hurt himself.

“You piece of...” The hideous being hissed with murderous look in his pitch black eyes.

 _Yondu...help_ , Peter thought in panic and couldn't help but whimper and cry out in pain when his head was pulled back in very painful manner to expose his soft and vulnerable terran neck.

Yondu and his crew could be heavy handed at times, but this pirate really wanted to make him suffer. Actually, for some reason this guy kinda reminded Peter of Taserface. He could almost pass as his uglier brother, if that was even possible. Taseface was pretty hideous and it was hard to top that.

Hearing the youngest member of the Ravagers yell out in agony and terror made Yondu want to see blood. Peter was his boy and as his captain he was the only one who had a right to teach him a lesson. The sight made him seethe.

First he was going to kill the rivaling pirate captain and after that drag Quill's sorry ass back to the ship to teach him a proper lesson, but he'd need the boy alive in order to do that.

Thankfully, the enemy pirate group were clearly inexperienced, having become all confused and baffled by Peter's sudden appearance. This was a chance Yondu just couldn't pass, especially since the leader was focused on Peter who was struggling like a little demon. The captain's rifle rested on the floor and a good distance away thanks to the boy.

With a single wave of a hand and a loud whistle, the crew opened fire at the enemy who were still confused and disoriented.

Peter closed his eyes and put his hands over his ears and just prayed that he'd somehow make it through this alive.

He couldn't count the times he had seen that red arrow dance to the tune Yondu whistled, but the results were almost always the same; people got hurt, badly.

The captain threatened others with it, killed with it. He sometimes even extorted information by burying the arrow deeper and deeper into the person's arm or leg until they spoke, ready to tell Yondu even their deepest, darkest secrets just to make the pain stop.

Most of the time, Peter could just ignore everything by staying a good distance away with the Walkman's volume turned to the max, much to the other Ravager's annoyance, but not this time.

He could no longer deny the cruel reality around him, not when one stray bullet could end his life. This was what Ravagers did and what he might have to do eventually.

Peter hated it when the captain whistled for the fun of it on the ship, it made him feel nervous and uneasy, putting him on his guard. This of course had not gone unnoticed by Yondu who ridiculed him in front of the whole crew, calling him a wimp or a scaredey-cat.

Heck, sometimes the crew laughed their heads off watching Yondu whistle so that the arrow chased Peter around the ship with no place to hide.

Yet, at moments like this, Peter knew his fear was well justified.

The arrow jumped at high speed from one target to another, piercing either their hearts or heads to deliver a swift and instantaneous death so that they couldn't retaliate.

Usually the kills were pretty clean, the projectile burning the wounds shut, but now the yaka arrow was an unstoppable force, the impacts leaving brutal results. The arrow showed no signs of slowing down as it slaughtered the enemy crew, its movements dictated by Yondu's elegant and sharp whistles.

However, the whistling and firing stopped the moment the enemy captain lifted Peter up in the air by the collar of his shirt to serve as a human shield.

Udonta's red eyes were fixated on Peter's face when the man pulled out a nasty looking knife and brought it against the boy's neck. His arrow was fast, but the moment he'd whistle the alien would sink that serrated edge into Peter's throat, cutting it wide open.

“Attack me and the boy will end up bleeding out on the floor,” the ugly alien growled at the Ravager captain who had raised his right hand to tell his men not to shoot.

The situation had devolved back into a deadlock.

Quill was scare to death.

During the past 12 months he had faced many dangers with the Ravagers, like skirmishes and even numerous space battles where the whole crew might get blown into pieces, but Yondu had always made sure that he'd be as safe as possible, keeping him out of severe danger until he was ready. If things had looked really bad, the captain had given him a gun to protect himself with, but thankfully Peter had never needed to use one.

During those times, Udonta had been reassuring and almost warm towards him, which contradicted his usual demeanor when with the crew. He was so different when they were alone that it left Peter unsure what to think of the blue skinned man.

At times, Peter felt so torn about Yondu. The captain often mocked and insulted him in front of the crew and didn't shy away from light physical punishment if he had done something really stupid that could have put the whole crew at risk.

Yet, when he was alone with Udonta, the centaurian man could be very...well not kind, but reasonable and good company. He'd show him some neat trick or tell tales about Ravagers and the history of the region.

It was as if the man lowered his guard with him. But all that went out of the airlock the moment someone joined them, even if it was Kraglin. The way the captain acted made Peter feel very insecure, leaving him yearning for the sense of safety and trust he just couldn't get.

“Do anything that annoys me in the slightest and the boy dies, Udonta! I thought your Ravager code forbid the trafficking of children,” the alien mocked Yondu who kept his focus on Peter who was trembling in fear.

The kid swallowed when he could feel the sharp blade kiss his neck, scratching the surface of his skin. “Shows how much a Ravager oath is worth, nothing,” the enemy captain continued before leering maliciously at the Ravagers. “There is good money in that business. I should know.”

Much to Peter's bad luck and terror, the enemy captain noticed a small round device behind his ear with few wires attached to the boy's neck. It was a translator implant Yondu had put on Peter the day he had kidnapped him.

At some point the kid would get an implant inside him, but he was growing so the captain had not yet bothered to put him through it.

A cruel smile formed on the alien's hideous face as he pressed the edge of the knife against the small attachment.

Peter cried out in pain and terror when the alien dug the small translator implant out of him in very merciless manner. The wound bled a bit but the pain was nothing compared to the shock the violent removal caused to his nervous system. Quill's whole body twitched slightly as the shock ran through his nervous system, making the boy almost cut himself into the blade.

However, the greatest impact was the psychological one.

It was terrifying how one moment he could understand what the men around him were saying and the next, their speech had turned foreign and strange, heck the enemy pirate's speech sounded almost like hissing and barking.

 _You are my little Star-Lord_ , Peter could hear his mother's weak voice in the distance, her words echoing inside his mind.

 _Mom_ , Peter thought desperately as the image of weak, hospital bed bound Meredith flashed in his mind.. _I don't want to die here_.

Even after a year, he still couldn't accept her death. He couldn't face it or the fact that he hadn't been able to take her hand when she had...had...

No matter how hard he wanted to forget the sight of his mother reaching towards him, wanting to feel his touch one last time before the sickness took her, he just couldn't escape it.

It tormented him almost every night and some of the ravagers threw him with things when he woke them up in the middle of the night, calling her...

At times he wanted nothing more than to find a way to turn back time so that he could feel his mother's touch one last time. But there was no such power in the world and he'd have to live with that regret for the rest of his life.

 _I don't want to die,_ the boy thought, the survival instinct starting to kick in. He recalled the knife Yondu had given him. It was his tool on the ship, but could just as well serve as a weapon.

“What the hell is this kid anyways? Never seen something like it before...” the hostile alien asked. “So soft, weak and useless. Just like you Ravagers. “

Peter slided his hand inside his tailored ravager jacket to grasp the handle of the small knife.

The attempt didn't go unnoticed by Yondu who had sharp eyes, but thankfully the last standing enemy was not as perceptive.

Kraglin too noticed what Quill was trying to do and kept his calm. Seeing the captain and the first mate all calm and collected made the more trigger happy ravagers lower their sights a bit.

“The boy's a terran,” Yondu stated calmly, trying to buy Peter some time to take out the knife unnoticed.

The enemy captain let out a cruel laugh as he held Peter up in the air.

“The garbage you Ravagers collect these days. No one wants to join you so you just end up kidnapping children from weak planets? Pathetic, Udonta.”

The hideous alien took a good look at Peter, his eyes gleaming with maliciousness. He was going to make him suffer. “Although, it is actually pretty cute. I'm sure a rich Kree lord would pay a pretty penny for a terran slave.”

Kraglin glanced at the captain and could spot a small change in his expression. He knew about Udonta's past and the comment about selling Peter to the Kree had clearly hit the nerve, even if Yondu kept his calm and didn't show it.

“Or maybe I just keep the kid as a personal bed warmer. I'm sure it will grow up into fine piece,” the alien continued going through his options while pressing the knife harder against Peter's neck.

“Now, you and your men leave my ship nice and quickly or I'm just going to eat the kid. Haven't tasted terran before.”

Peter noticed how Yondu's expression changed, even if he didn't understand why due to the minor translation issues. The Ravager captain looked like he had been insulted and offended in the worst way possible. The enemy captain had stolen his joke and it made him want to see him dead, preferably having died in very painful manner.

A small amused smile formed on Yondu's face that widened until he let out a soft laugh.

“You've got some fancy threats, but I don't think you are going to deliver any of them, or eat my boy here,” Yondu said with a smug and confident look on his face. The whole crew knew that the alien was going to die in moments, one way or another.

Peter was afraid yes, but he feared death even more. It was a force that urged him to act, to survive. It had helped him to cope and adapt during the past year, impressing even the captain.

“Why is that?” the evil space monster asked, leering at Yondu who clearly wanted to just whistle and bury the yaka arrow deep into him brain, but Peter was still in danger.

The only answer the alien got was a smug and overconfident grin that borderline maliciousness.

The way the captain acted confused the pirate and he moved his knife enough away from Quill's neck for the boy to act.

Peter let out a small angry and desperate yell, moving his hands up to sink the sharp industrial knife deep into the man's wrist. He didn't know what material it was made from, but it cut almost anything.

The enemy captain yelled in pain and surprise and let go of Quill who fell onto the cold floor once more, only to try and back away from the hostile creature as quickly as possible. The knife hit the floor, bouncing a couple of times before landing too far away for Peter to grab it.

“You little bastard! That's it, you'll die now!” The pirate yelled, pulling his side arm from its holster and taking a good aim at the kid.

“No!” Peter yelled, unable to move anymore. His heart was racing and it was as if his limbs were made of lead. He couldn't even crawl away.

The alien man pulled the trigger, yet, a high pitched whistle was heard in the room less than a second before the gun went off.

The terran boy let out a terrified yell when he heard and saw the alien shoot at him, but he also yelled at the sight of half of the man's head being eradicated by the yaka arrow.

Yondu had been faster with his actions.

Blood splattered from the wound and plenty of it landed on Peter's face and clothes along with some pieces of brain and bone. For a short moment, Quill couldn't' tear his widen eyes off the gruesome sight before him.

Silence filled the room once more and Peter slowly shifted his gaze from the corpse to the smoking black spot and damaged floor inches away from him. The alien had missed because his whole body had jolted due to the arrow's impact. If it wasn't for Yondu's reflexes, he would be dead.

The young human dodged on the floor when the pirate captain fell forwards, hitting the cold metal floor hard enough to make it shake beneath Peter. Black blood poured from the alien's corpse and some of it reached Peter's sneakers before he managed to crawl backwards to get out of its reach.

Usually Yondu's kills were clean, but this one was just...horrifying. The impact had pretty much made the alien's head explode and blood just gushed out of the wound.

It didn't help the matter when one of Yondu's men said “Ha! Nice!”as if it had been some tough trick shot the captain had managed to pull.

Of course Peter couldn't understand it, but the tone was clear enough.

“My boys are vicious, you shouldn't underestimate them, no matter the size,” Udonta mocked the dead captain as he walked over to Quill who had stood up. It was surprising that the boy's legs still carried him after that.

Peter knew that the sight he had witnessed just now was seared permanently into his mind and would give him new nightmares. He was in total shock.

Heck, he didn't even notice it when Yondu's men walked past him to free the captive Ravagers and to make sure there were no stragglers among the dead. Fortunately the arrow was an effective killer.

Peter couldn't get his eyes off the corpse before him and he could feel how the blood slowly trailed down his cheek.

“Come on boy, lets go,” Peter could hear Yondu say in very stern and commanding tone, yet, hidden beneath it was concern, even if it went unnoticed by the young kid. With the translator implant broken, Quill couldn't understand a single word the captain was saying to him.

The terran boy was trying to still his breathing but it proved to be impossible. He had almost died and around him were countless corpses. Yondu saw that the kid was starting to hyperventilate and muttered few curse words. This was bad.

Kraglin noticed the terrified expression on Quill's face as he passed him to help the captive ravagers. The kid had just been shot at and seen a man's head explode before his eyes. It would be a wonder if this didn't leave permanent scars into the boy's mind.

Most of the crew would understand, but then there were those like Taserface who'd tear the boy apart for showing weakness like this.

Many of the crew thought Peter to be a weakling already since many came from horrible backgrounds, like Yondu who had been sold to slavery by his own parents.

To some of the crew violence, thievery, smuggling and other illegal activities, even murder, had been part of their lives from the start, but Peter was a frail terran boy who had not witnessed such things until now.

“Is he like...I don't know...going to be ok?” Kraiglin asked from Yondu as he helped one injured crew mate back towards the ship. The centaurian man could hear a hint of worry in his right hand man's voice. It was good that he was not the only one with soft spot for Quill.

“We'll see,” Yondu muttered and scratched the back of his neck. This was very troublesome. He had not intended to bring Peter into a fight until he was older, but it seemed that fate had decided otherwise.

With the rest of the crew gone, the ravager leader was left alone with Quill who was trembling and having trouble breathing. It would be easier this way. If he showed weakness in front of the crew, the chance of mutiny would grow.

He had overdone the strike with the enemy captain, but it had been necessary in order to save Peter.

“Hey boy, come on and snap out of it,” Yondu said now in much calmer tone to Quill who was covered in blood.

The boy turned his attention slowly to the captain, his eyes widen with terror. The human kid was such a scrawny little thing, fitting into small spaces, his hands made for stealing, but in the end he was still just a child.

“You still with me? Calm down,” the captain inquired and placed his hand on Peter's shoulder in reassuring manner, but much to the Ravager captain's surprise, the boy reacted violently.

“No! Don't touch me!” Peter yelled and tried to run away, but Yondu just grabbed his thin arm into a vice like grip, refusing to let the scared human boy run away.

Peter was so used to have his music to comfort him during dangerous situations and their aftermaths during which he just sat away and let the rest of the crew do what ever they did, but now where was only silence and the two of them surrounded by death.

“I said calm down!” the blue skinned man said quite sternly, but Peter, who was in panicked state and unable to understand the captain, showed no signs of doing so. He thrashed and tried to get his arm free but it was all useless. "You are really testing my nerves here boy," Udonta added, his grip so tight that it almost hurt Peter who tried his all to wrest his arm free. It would leave a bruise.

“Let go! I want to go home, back to Earth. I don't want anything to do with this,” Peter yelled at Udonta and tried to hit him so that he'd release his hold, but Yondu just took hold of the boy's wrist as well. 

The boy kept fighting and struggling until he ran out of energy and just stood there trying to catch his breath with a look of a wild animal in his eyes.

When it was clear that Peter was no longer going to run, Yondu released his hold on the kid's arm.

 

The 9 year old grit his teeth and sobbed as tears started to trail down his face. Peter tried to wipe them away, not wanting to show any weakness in front of the Ravager captain who had threatened to eat him.

“Calm down boy, you did great. If it wasn't for you, my men might be dead, you'll make a fine Ravager yet,” Yondu tried to comfort the boy in calm tone even though he knew his words were gibberish to him.

“Sorry, but there is no going back to Earth.”

He placed his hand once more onto the boy's small shoulder and this time he didn't run.

During the past year, Yondu had not seen Peter cry more than 3 times, but it was clear that the boy had tons of fears and worries he had kept inside him, letting them just pile up until they were too heavy to bear.

The near death encounter had been too much for Quill who was still mourning his mother...still haunted by his inability to take her hand. It was his greatest regret, not being there for her, not being able to touch her one last time when she had begged it. It had been her last wish and he hadn't even been able to look at her.

Finally, Peter broke down into tears in front of the captain, hugging him and burying his face against the man's red ravager coat.

After seeing all kinds of creepy, dangerous and strange things in the universe, it was hard to find something that'd surprise the Ravager leader anymore. Apparently, Peter Quill was one of those things. Yondu couldn't help but look surprised when the boy held onto him, seeking comfort and warmth no one really could give him on that ship.

“Mom...I'm sorry I couldn't take your hand,” Peter cried against Yondu who had really no idea what he should do. “I want to see you again,” Quill sobbed, tightening his hold on Udonta's long coat. ”I want it more than anything in the universe.”

All the captain could do was to let Peter hold onto him and pat the boy's head as he cried his heart out.

At that moment, Yondu was so glad that Peter's translator was gone.

“It's ok Peter. I'll look after you and teach you how to survive, then maybe one day you can return back to Earth. I'll make sure the crew won't get you, no matter what. ”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I wrote Yondu as kinda of a meanie here, but as someone who has to keep group of pirates under control, its just the way I see him. Also, English is not my native language so I probably keep fixing this.  
> Also I really dislike Taserface :)

**Author's Note:**

> A bit short, but I want the next chapter to be focused :) Thanks for making it this far!


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